Fantasy fare from Kendal (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Fantasy fare from Kendal

9:36am Friday 17th April 2009 in

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To borrow the words of the TV advert Carlsberg don’t do rugby matches but if they did... Kendal’s rampant display against National 3 North leaders Nuneaton certainly fitted the bill of a fantasy that was lived.

The six-try demolition means that the two sides that were first and second in the table a fortnight ago have been thrashed - and comprehensively.

Nothing now can be taken for granted for leaders Nuneaton, who find that Fylde have crept stealthily closer to them when at one stage the title looked within grasp.

Kendal can feed off this video for seasons to come - in wine terms it was Grand Cru in a very good year.

Kendal go to Darlington Mowden Park, who are fighting for survival, on Saturday, and still have a backlog of five further games to get through.

They are back at home against Loughborough Students on April 25 - and don’t finish until May 16.

Kendal.......................44 Nuneaton ..................29 ...

FLYING fireman Lewis Boyd ran in four tries as Kendal took apart National League 3 North leaders Nuneaton with a sparkling team display.

In the Easter sunshine, Kendal continued to show they are a match for anyone in this end-of-season revival and were clinical, disciplined as well as intensely passionate about their work from start to finish.

No more so than Boyd and his fellow backs who were able to translate the Kendal pack's superb groundwork into points.

An early penalty which allowed Rob Aloe to get Kendal noses in front was soon built upon as they went ten points up in as many minutes.

In the ninth minute Aloe followed up his diagonal chip towards the visitors' tryline and forced a knock-on.

Kendal got a serious nudge on at the scrum and quick heel was taken in. They sucked in the Nuns’ defence on the blindside before the ball was switched right and Boyd came in off his wing to shimmy out of a tackle and go under the posts, Aloe converting.

Kendal's tackling was unstinting and immense in the first half as Nuneaton came back with strong pressure for a good tenminute spell after conceding those early points.

Craig Wilson got back to harry a Nuneaton pursuit of a kick through and was rewarded when the ball spun wildly away from his opponent.

Good turnover work was also a feature and Gareth Gore did some smart recovery work at the scrum close to the tryline as Nuneaton were thwarted again.

But the Nuns' attritional style brought them a score after 22 minutes when they ran back Chris Park's kick and broke through on the right wing. The support arrived for the Nuns to go over in a heap for an uncovnerted try.

Only two minutes elapsed before Kendal cancalled out the score in what was a breathless spectacle.

Playing a mighty role along with the rest of the back row, Liam Hayton secured the restart ball and James Gough shiped it to skipper Ian Voortman, whose long miss-pass released Boyd.

Beating his counterpart on the wing, he confouned another Nuns defender as he swept over for a second try, Aloe converting for a 17-5 lead.

It got better. Two minutes later Zane Butler harried a stray pass from a Nuns'

attack and showed his footballing skill, hacking on three times across the pitch.

It seemed wishful to imagine him getting to the tryline, but he arrived there and dropped on the ball for the try, which the touchjudge corroborated with the referee.

Another Aloe conversion extended the gap to 22-5 and this was starting to taste like free champagne.

The chance of a penalty soon afterwards meant more points and Aloe made it 25-5.

A glorious chance to to inflict more damage came when Mark Wilson’s superbly-timed pass in the 34th minute would have left Butler with a clear run-in on the right wing, but the winger took his eye off the ball and spilled it. Revenge would come later.

Wilson put in a tireless display, getting back to make a try-saving tackle, while Voortman’s appetite for the contest has seen him cast off the years, and he was only just beaten to Matt Gracie's kick-on before the break.

Kendal added a fourth bonus-point try in the 47th minute when they turned over ball and quicks hands saw Gracie find Boyd, who cut inside, turned on the burners and evaporated past the defence to go under the posts.

Once again the confident Aloe converted.

Nine minutes later Billy Coxon ripped a pass clear and Gracie again played the link-man to send Butler on his way down the wing, outstripping the fresh Nuns’ replacement in a 60-metre dash over.

Aloe's conversion attempt dipped just under the bar but the 37-5 lead was mindboggling.

The Nuns had ten minutes left to make an impact. And with Kendal making their replacements and perhaps tiring, they showed why they are leaders with two quick tries.

It cut the score to 37-17, but Kendal were not finished and replied with a sixth try.

Coxon forced a turnover and Voortman released replacement Brett Ashley, whose superb angled run allwoed him to spoon-feed Boyd for another seven points.

Two more Nuns tries could not diminish one iota a memorable display from the Black and Ambers - a 44-29 scoreline representing a big statement from Kendal - that in the right conditions